Teaching and Learning Spoken English - Literature review Example

UNIT OF WORK FOR A LANGUAGE SKILLS CLASS Listening is an important aspect in learning the English language. It provides the auditory input that acts as the foundation for English language acquisition and permits students to relate in spoken communication. This essay details a unit of work of six hours for a specific class that integrates listening and speaking skills. The class is based on the needs of learners whose speak other languages other than English and who have no experience with the English language. The essay begins by examining the characteristics of a target group of learners, and provides a description of the main course in which the unit of work will be based. It highlights the needs of the learners, includes the aim and purpose of this project, and provides an outline of lessons plans, including the tasks and organization of the class, and the methodologies to use in teaching the students. The target group of students or class intended for this unit of work can be described through a number of aspects. The class includes students who are generally classified into the adolescent age. Therefore, it constitutes a group that is often perceived as” unmotivated” and “poor learners” (Harmer, 2007, P.38). While these learners may lack intrinsic motivation, they possess some extrinsic motivation. These include the desire to be able to communicate effectively with the majority of people as well as perform day to day transactions. Moreover, the students are eager to learn the language in order to fit in the systems of the schools in which they will study in. These learners have also high prospects for creativity, a high capacity to learn, and an ardent dedication to things that interest them (Harmer, 2007, P.38). It is therefore important for teachers of this class to know how to stimulate their engagement through involving and relevant teaching materials. These learners must also be encouraged to react to situations and texts with their own experience and thoughts as opposed to abstract learning and merely answering questions (Harmer, 2007, P.43). The learners in this class have a good socio-economic background. They represent a group of people who are sound economically. However, these learners do not speak English as their first language. Therefore, the students can be classified as beginners; that is, they have a low score of proficiency in both spoken and written English. However, the learners have high aptitude and intelligence, and include persons who are academically eligible to join a university. As Harmer (2007, P.44) would describe them these learners are able to easily discern their progress in their proficiencies between short durations. Even with the generalization of the students’ characteristics, it is important to note that there are variations in every individual. Individuals react variously to similar stimuli (Harmer (2007, P.44). Therefore, similar learning activities may not be fitting for all learners in a class. The target group of students of which this paper is focused comprise people who have different interpersonal intelligence. The unit of work described in this text will be part of a wider course generally referred to as English as a second language (ESL). The course generally involves teaching the English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciations. Grammar is more concerned with the acquisition of speaking skills, listening skills, writing skills and reading skills. It involves rules that control the structure of words, phrases, and sentences in the English language. It includes syntax, phonology, and morphology. Spelling and punctuation also form part of the English grammar lessons. The course also includes various assessments to determine how well the students have acquired the taught skills. The assessments are the basis upon which students are allowed to proceed to the next level of learning. The students have a poor background in regards to English skills. They are immigrant who generally lack experience with the English language and therefore, cannot communicate effectively with the majority member of the host country. Therefore, these students have a desire to acquire literacy skills that would facilitate their integration into the host community. Moreover, given that the education system in their host country is largely dependent on the English language, they ought to learn the language so as to fit in the system. Their source of motivation for taking this course is the need to function properly in various areas without being set back by language barriers. These learners, therefore, have a number of linguistic needs. These range from the immediate need of understanding the English language functions to the long terms need of proficiency in communicating through the English language. They need to acquire knowledge of English language production and processing. They should know how to process both written and spoken communications. The learners should therefore learn the English grammar as well as its vocabularies and pronunciations. They need to acquire listening skills, which will be instrumental in acquisition of spoken communication skills. The students need to know how to organize their speech in various manners, including thematically, sequentially, and chronologically. The learning styles of the learners differ slightly. One group can be generally described as “oracular” learners (Harmer, 2007, P.42; Wright, 1987). This kind of learners is more concerned with achievement of personal goals, and views the teacher as a reference point (Harmer, 2007, P.42). On the other hand, some learners are more focused on the group’s goals although they take the teacher as a reference point. In Wright’s (1987) words, these are the “enthusiast” learners. A few learners are the “rebel” type (Harmer, 2007; Wright, 1987) such that they refer to the learning group for assistance but are more concerned with the achievement of their individual goals. The students can also be described variously through the thoughts of Willing (1987) as “conformists” and “concrete learners”. The conformists are more focused to know the language more than its use. Furthermore, they are inclined to being dependent on the teacher and are comfortable in non-communicative learning as well as with what they are asked to do. This group of learners require that a teacher is well organized. The concrete learners prefer to learn through direct experience and take pleasure in the social facet of learning. These learners, unlike the conformists, are more concerned with the language as a communication tool and in its use as opposed to its system (Harmer, 2007). It is important, however, to note that the class is not absolutely homogenous and contains some learners who may possess characteristics other than the ones discussed above. Moreover, the aspects The aim of this project is to teach some fundamental English communication skills to a group of students to allow them to communicate satisfactory through the English language. The project will focus on the acquisition of the listening and speaking skills associated with the English language. Besides being able to discern some basic conversations and communicate satisfactorily, the learners will be expected to pass various tests on the appropriate proficiency level for this elementary unit of the ESL course. On completion of this class, the learners should be able to construct simple sentences and phrases and correctly spell a number of English words. They should be able to comfortably engage in the common conversations and perform common transactions that characterize the day to day life. The students should be able to communicate in at least the three settings: one-to-one, one-to-many, and in small group settings. These lessons are appropriate because they cater for the immediate needs of the students such as being able to interact with the members of the community and in school through spoken communication. Furthermore, the lessons are designed in such a way that they cater for the individual student needs. The pre-tasks of the lessons will involve identifying the learning needs and styles of the students. Questionnaires will be used to formally gather information about the learners. The activities suggested by Revell and Norman (1997) for gathering information about the learning preferences of students will be used to determine their favourite sensory system. The information will be useful in selecting the methodologies to use for the lessons. Once the learning preferences and styles of the students are identified, the students will be placed into groups. The groups will be organized based on the learning styles and preferences of the students. ESL research has proposed and promoted the use of groups in learning English as a second language (Long and Porter, 1985). Holliday (1994) has highlighted that the notion of learning in groups promotes a task-based, a process-oriented, a collaborative, an inductive, and a communicative learning process. However, even as groups are formed it is important to consider the broader social aspects so that the class is not divided into groups if students learn better as a whole. Kramsch and Sullivan (1996) agree that dividing a class into groups is not always beneficial, especially in cases where a class is homogenous. However, since our class includes learners with different learning styles and preferences, and different social background, it is important to organize the students into groups. The groups will be as shown in table one below. Table one: Organization of learners into groups Group Description Oracular learners Concerned with achievement of personal goals Teacher is the point of reference Enthusiast learners Concerned with achievement of groups goals Teacher is the point of reference Rebel learners Concerned with achievement of personal goals Group is the point of reference The main aim of organizing the learners as shown in the table above is be able to satisfy students who prefer to work through interactions, or conversely, those who like to learn on their own. Appropriate teaching methodologies will be applied to different groups as their sensory stimuli. The teacher will also take records of the groups’ progress so as to reorganize them accordingly. The responses from students about various learning tasks/activities will be useful in the redesigning the leaning activities. The initial tasks of the lesson will emphasize on exposing the students to the English language. Harmer (2007) has highlighted the three aspects that are vital in teaching and learning language: “exposing”, “motivation”, and opportunities for use”. Given that the students are highly motivated to learn the English language and opportunities exist for its use, then the main tasks of the lessons would revolve around exposure to the language. Students would be given activities to work on while teacher acts as a “facilitator and a resource” for the learner to utilize” (Harmer, 2007). The facilitative role will include being a prompter, an observer, an organizer, an assessor, and a resource. In this respect, the teacher would prompt learners to continue in certain direction in case they veer off the path of learning, observe students activities in order to give feedbacks, organize the class and offer guidelines on group formation, and also assess the progress of the students so that they know whether they are doing things in the right manner. The students’ responsibility will involve working on the learning tasks and activities. The students will also take tests to assess their level of acquisition of the skills taught. The tests will be designed to cover all the areas of the skills taught in the lessons. It will be the responsibility of the teacher to design the learning and assessments activities. The activities will be organized in order to fit into a six hours program that will be split into three lessons each comprising of two hours. The table below shows how the Table 2: Lessons and skills to be taught Lessons Descriptions Time duration Listening skills Tasks and activities for learning listening skills will be taught 2 hours Spoken communication skills Tasks and activities for learning speaking skills, including vocabularies and pronunciation will be taught 2 hours Assessments Assessment of both listening and speaking skills will be offered for student to work on 2 hours The concept of appropriate pedagogy will be used in selecting the teaching methodologies to use. Given the distinct students’ learning characteristics and needs, a number of teaching methodologies will be used. The primary methodology to use in the class will be the communicative approach and the task-based learning, while the lexical approach will supplement the learning. The aim of the communicative approach is to emphasize on the importance of language functions (Harmer, 2007). Through this approach, the lessons will focus on appropriate use of language forms in various contexts and for different reasons. The lessons will also be based largely on tasks and problems for students to solve. These tasks will be designed to allow the students to acquire various skills. Harmer (2007) has agreed that task-based learning is effective in teaching learners of second language. This approach will involve three stages of execution: pre-task phase, the task cycle, and the language focus phase (Willis, 1994). The pre-task phase will involve the teacher exploring a topic with the learners while highlighting the useful items. Graphics and images, including pictures will be used to facilitate learning. The lexical approach will be used to develop the students store of idioms, collocations, and “fixed and semi-phrases” (Harmer, 2007). However, the use of this approach will be minimal. As Harmer (2007) highlights the English language involves more than the conventional grammar and vocabulary. This approach will therefore be useful in learning various prefabricated pieces of grammar. References Brown, K. L. 1981, Teaching, speaking and listening skills in the elementary and secondary school. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Education. Harmer, J. 2007, The Practice of English Language Teaching, 4th Edition, Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education. Kramsch, C. & Sullivan, P. 1996, Appropriate pedagogy. ELT Journal. 50(3). 199 - 212. Long, M. & Porter, S. 1985, Group work, inter-language talk, and second language acquisition’. TESOL Quarterly, 19(2) 207-228. Revell, J & Norman, S. 1997, In your hands: NLP in ELT. London: Saffire Press. Willing, K. 1987, Learning styles and adult migrant education. Adelaide: National Curriculum Resource Centre. Willis, J. 1994, Task based learning as an alternative to PPP. The teacher Trainer. 8(1). Pp. 17-20. Wright, T. 1987, Roles of teachers and learners. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More